William David Ross

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William David Ross

Sir William David Ross KBE (born April 15, 1877 in Thurso , † May 5, 1971 in Oxford ) was a Scottish philosopher and main proponent of intuitionist ethics in the 20th century. His best known work is The Right and The Good , published in 1930.

Life

William David Ross was born in the port town of Thurso in northern Scotland. He spent the first six years of his life in southern India . On his return to Scotland he went to the Royal High School in Edinburgh and then to the University of Edinburgh . In 1895 he made his master's degree in humanities . He finished his studies at Balliol College , Oxford and got a lectureship at Oriel College in 1900 , where he became a fellow in 1902 .

In 1928 he was knighted by King George V of England. From 1929 to 1947 Ross Provost was at Oriel College, Oxford. He was also rector of the University of Oxford from 1941 to 1947 . In 1950 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

With his wife Edith Ogdem, whom he married in 1906, he had four daughters (Margaret, Rosalind, Eleanor and Katharine). Edith Ogdem died in 1953.

Teaching

Ross believes that one can recognize basic values ​​intuitively. Ross is a metaethical realist . For Ross, morality is what a person should do. In contrast to George Edward Moore, he represents a deontological ethic . As a basis for a discussion of moral questions, he has drawn up a list of prima facie duties that have been widely discussed in reception.

1. Obligations that are based on a previous self-performed action:
a) Faithfulness to contract and promises
b) Duty of truthfulness
c) Duty to make reparations
2. Obligations based on a previous act performed by someone else:
d) Duties of gratitude
3. Duty of (distributive) justice (= distribution of pleasure and happiness in accordance with merit)
4. Obligations of benevolence and charity (these are the maximizing obligations of the utilitarians, but who are now restricted in the system by the other obligations)
5. the duty of self-perfecting
6. the duty not to harm others

For Ross these duties are self-evident and therefore truthful standards. Ross does not consider his list to be complete or final, but it is in no way arbitrary. Each of his points is based on circumstances whose moral relevance cannot be denied. The moral practice that has evolved over time is of great importance:

“The totality of the moral convictions of the best is the cumulative result of the reflection of many generations who have developed an extraordinarily fine sense of moral distinction; and the theorist cannot allow himself to treat them other than with the greatest respect "

In contrast to Immanuel Kant , who knows only one supreme principle with the categorical imperative, Ross is of the opinion that moral principles are pluralistic. Therefore one has to solve moral conflicts with an appropriate rule. To this end, Ross has established two principles:

  1. Always act in accordance with the stronger prima facie duty.
  2. Always act according to the greatest prima-facie correctness against the greatest prima-facie falsehood.

Selected Works

  • Aristotle (1923)
  • The Right and the Good (1930)
  • Foundations of Ethics (1939)
  • Plato's Theory of Ideas (1951)
  • Kant's Ethical Theory (1954)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jean-Claude Wolf: A pluralism of prima-facie duties as an alternative to monistic theories of ethics, Journal for Philosophical Research, (50) 4 (Oct. - Dec.) 1996, 601-610
  2. ^ WD Ross: The Foundations of Ethics . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1939, 190, quoted from: David McNaughton: An Unconnected Heap of Duties ?, The Philosophical Quarterly (46), 185 (Oct.) 1996, 433-447, here 435
  3. ^ WD Ross: The Right and the Good . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1930, 20
  4. ^ William David Ross: A Catalog of Prima-Facie Duties . In: Dieter Birnbacher, Detlev Hoerster (Ed.): Texts on Ethics, dtv, Munich 1976, 253-268, 267
  5. ^ WD Ross: The Right and the Good . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1930, 41-42
personal data
SURNAME Ross, William David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH April 15, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH Thurso
DATE OF DEATH 5th May 1971
Place of death Oxford